Image forming apparatus

ABSTRACT

When trial printing is executed in a repeat printing mode, trial printing is performed in size of an image of one piece in a layout in which a plurality of images are supposed to be printed in the repeat printing mode normally. A user who has checked a finished state of the trial printing sets, when the finished state is in a desired state, the recording paper on which the trial printing is performed to the paper feed portion again and executes the repeat printing. Thereby, in a blank space excluding a print image which is printed with a first time trial printing, a scheduled quantity of a plurality of images are repeatedly printed.

CROSS-NOTING PARAGRAPH

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)on Patent Application No. 2010-095657 filed in JAPAN on Apr. 19, 2010,the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and morespecifically, to an image forming apparatus provided with a repeatprinting function which forms images by repeatedly arranging image dataon one sheet of recording paper and a trial printing function which whenforming a single piece of image data into a plurality of images, formsthe single piece of image data into an image, first, and subsequently,forms a scheduled quantity of images when an image formation instructionis input.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Image forming apparatuses are known, provided with such a function as acopying function which forms an image of a document image read by ascanner or a printer function for forming an image of (printing) imagedata input from an external device such as a PC on a medium such asrecording paper. Some image forming apparatuses are provided with arepeat printing function which forms images by repeatedly arrangingimage data on one sheet of recording paper and a trial printing functionwhich, when forming a single piece of image data into a plurality ofimages, forms the single piece of image data into an image, first, andsubsequently, forms a scheduled quantity of images when an imageformation instruction is input.

Concerning the repeat printing function as described above, for example,Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-142969 discloses, anarranging method of document images which arranges identical documentimages effectively on a sheet of paper to be output so as to eliminate awasteful blank in a function for continuously copying a plurality ofdocument images on the paper.

If users try to check a finished state of the printing with use of thetrial printing function as described above, when they perform printingwith use of the repeat printing function, the conventional function userone sheet of a recording paper for the trial printing, and therefore,printing is performed all over the recording paper. In this case, sincethe repeat printing function is set, a plurality of the same images arerepeatedly printed on one sheet of the recording paper. Then, in a casewhere the finish of the printing of the first sheet of the recordingpaper is not in a state desired by a user and printing is performedagain with print conditions changed, the first sheet of the recordingpaper on which the plurality of images are repeatedly printed isdiscarded.

In the case of performing the trial printing using the repeat printingfunction, it is sufficient if a finished state of one image is checkedamong the plurality of images to be printed repeatedly by the repeatprinting. However, such a function is not provided in the conventionalfunction, and even though the trial printing is executed, a plurality ofthe same images are repeatedly printed on the recording paper, andtherefore, sometimes all those printed images go to waste.

According to the arranging method of a document image described inJapanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-142969, although itspossible to arrange the same images on one sheet of paper efficientlywithout waste, in this case also, the user is not able to judge whetheror not printing is performed in a desired state until the user actuallysees a printing result. Then, when the printing result is not in a statedesired by the user and the printing is to be performed again, aplurality of the printed images are all useless.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an image formingapparatus having a repeat printing function for forming images byarranging a plurality of image data to be printed on one sheet ofrecording paper, in which at a stage of printing only one image on onesheet of recording paper, a user checks a finished state thereof, and ascheduled quantity of repeat printings is performed so that recordingpaper, a toner and the like that are used for printing are saved, thusenabling realization of the resource saving.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image formingapparatus having an image forming portion which forms an image of imagedata on recording paper and a paper feed portion which feeds therecording paper to the image forming portion, comprising a repeatprinting function which forms images by repeatedly arranging image dataon one sheet of recording paper, and a trial printing function which,when forming a plurality of images for one of image data, forms only oneimage for the image data first, and subsequently, forms an image againin response to input of an image formation instruction, wherein theimage forming portion enables execution of the trial printing functionin a mode of executing the repeat printing function, and in forming animage by the trial printing function, forms only one image on a part ofrecording paper for image data to be printed by means of repeatprinting, and in response to input of an instruction to execute printingby the repeat printing function, feeds the recording paper on which animage is formed by the trial printing function again by the paper feedportion and forms a scheduled quantity of images by the repeat printingfunction in a blank space on the fed recording paper.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the image formingapparatus, wherein the image forming portion enables repetitiveexecution of forming an image more than once by the trial printingfunction, and when forming an image by the trial printing function,forms a next image by the trial printing function at a position of ablank on the recording paper excluding a position of an image formed bythe trial printing function in the past.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the image formingapparatus, wherein the image forming portion forms the scheduledquantity of images by the repeat printing function at a position of ablank on the recording paper excluding a position of an image formed bythe trial printing function, when forming a scheduled quantity of imagesby the repeat printing function after forming an image is repeated morethan once by the trial printing function.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the image formingapparatus, wherein the image forming portion attaches, to the imageexcluding the image of conditions used for forming images by the repeatprinting function among the plurality of images formed by the trialprinting function, an indication for clearly showing that the image isnot used for the repeat printing, when forming a scheduled quantity ofimages by the repeat printing function after forming an image isrepeated more than once by the trial printing function.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the image formingapparatus, wherein the image forming portion stores print conditions ofthe plurality of images formed by the trial printing function performedmore than once, allows an user to select an image to be used in formingan image by the repeat printing function among the plurality of images,and forms a scheduled quantity of images by the repeat printing functionwith use of the print conditions corresponding to the selected image.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the image formingapparatus, wherein the image forming portion attaches, to apredetermined position of the recording paper, an indication showing asetting direction of the recording paper to the paper feed portionagain, when forming an image by the trial printing function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of animage forming apparatus according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining a processing example oftrial printing executed by the image forming apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining a state where the trialprinting is performed three times in a repeat printing mode;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example in which a set directionof recording paper is displayed in performing a second time trialprinting and thereafter;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining processing in using a pastsetting at the time of trial printing;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for repeatprinting in the image forming apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a displayportion/operating portion of the image forming apparatus according tothe present invention; and

FIG. 8 is another diagram showing a display example of a displayportion/operating portion of the image forming apparatus according tothe present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of animage forming apparatus according to the present invention. The imageforming apparatus 1 of the present example is configured as amulti-functional peripheral provided with a copying function to read adocument image and form an image of (print) the read document image on amedium such as recording paper, and a printer function to form an imageof image data input from an external device such as a PC (personalcomputer). The image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an imageprocessing portion 10, an image reading portion 15, a data input portion16, a display portion/operating portion 17 and an image forming portion(printing portion) 18.

The image reading portion 15 reads an image of a document placed on adocument platen of the image forming apparatus 1 (not-shown) to outputto the image processing portion 10 as image data. Further, the datainput portion 16 connects to an external device such as a PC, inputsimage data transmitted from the external device and outputs the imagedata to the image processing portion 10. The external device is notlimited to a device such as a PC, and may be a memory, a storage deviceor the like attached to the image forming apparatus 1.

The display portion/operating portion 17 has a display portion fordisplaying an image such as menus for operating the image formingapparatus 1 and various information, and an operating portion forreceiving input that is given by a user in response to the display ofthe display portion. For the display portion/operating portion 17, forexample, a touch panel may be used. The user is able to perform inputoperation for instructing repeat printing or trial printing by using thedisplay portion/operating portion 17. The user is also able to input aninstruction to change a print image at the time of repeat printing.

The image processing portion 10 includes a preprocessing portion 11which performs preprocessing for printing to the image data output fromthe image reading portion 15 or the data input portion 16, an imagememory 12 which temporarily stores the preprocessed image data, an imagechanging portion 13 which changes the image data temporarily stored inthe image memory 12, and a layout processing portion 14 which sets orchanges an output layout of the image data.

The above-described image changing portion 13 performs change of size(enlargement, reduction) of an image instructed by the displayportion/operating portion 17 and processing for changing a condition ofcolor (contrast, tone, etc.). The image changing portion 13 has afunction which stores history of print conditions changed by a trialprinting function.

When repeat printing is instructed from a user by operating the displayportion/operating portion 17, the above-described layout processingportion 14 performs layout processing for recording paper of image datato be printed. The trial printing function stores the number of timestrial printing has been performed and determines a position on which anext image is printed.

The image forming portion 18 forms an image of (prints) image dataoutput from the image changing portion 13 on recording paper. For amethod for forming an image, the known electrophotography or an inkjetmethod may be employed as appropriate. The image forming portion 18 isprovided with a paper feed portion 19 that feeds recording paper onwhich an image is formed. The paper feed portion 19 is able to executethe subsequent trial printing or repeat printing by setting therecording paper on which the trial printing is performed again.

Next, a processing example of trial printing executed in the imageforming apparatus of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. As described above, the trial printing isa function which forms a scheduled quantity of image by giving aninstruction to form an image again, after the image data is formed intoone image regardless the set value of the scheduled quantity and a userchecks its finish state when forming a single piece of image date a intoa plurality of images. Additionally, the repeat printing is a functionin which images are formed by repeatedly arranging a plurality of imageson one sheet of recording paper.

In the case of executing the trial printing, first, a user sets a modefor performing repeat printing in the image forming apparatus 1, andselects recording paper on which image data is printed. Selection ofrecording paper indicates, for example, selection of recoding paper sizesuch as M, B5 and the like. A document is then set on a document platenthe image reading portion 15 reads a document image and then to obtainimage data of the document. Alternatively, the image data may be inputfrom the external device to the data input portion 16.

The trial printing is then executed. Thereby, it is possible to printonly one image formed from the image data on a part of the selectedrecording paper. FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a state of printing on therecording paper 100 at this time. As shown in FIG. 2A, when trialprinting is executed in a repeat printing mode, the trial printing isperformed in size of one image in a layout in which a plurality ofimages are supposed to be printed in the repeat printing mode normally.Thereby, at the time of trial printing in the repeat printing mode,printing with use of one entire sheet of recording paper is notperformed, thus realizing resource saving.

The user who has checked a finish of the trial printing sets therecording paper 100 on which the trial printing is performed to thepaper feed portion 19 again when the finished state is in a desiredstate and performs the operations for executing the repeat printing. Asshown in FIG. 2B, thereby, a scheduled quantity of a plurality of imagesare repeatedly printed on a blank space excluding the print image 101which is printed in the first time trial printing. The print conditionsat this time are the print conditions in accordance with a setting A ofthe first time trial printing. Moreover, in the repeat printing at thistime, a layout of print images is performed so as to make a wastefulblank as little as possible according to the size of the recording paper100 selected by the user.

Furthermore, in a case where the print image 101 obtained by the firsttime trial printing is not in a state desired by a user, the userarbitrarily change the setting of the print conditions, and sets therecording paper 100 on which the trial printing is performed to thepaper feed portion 19 again so as to be able to perform an operation forexecuting the trial printing again. In second time trial printing,printing under new print conditions is performed adjacent to the printimage 101 for which the first time trial printing is performed. Notethat, the print images in the first time and the second time are notnecessarily adjacent to each other, however, the second time trialprinting is, at least, performed on a blank space other than the firsttime trial printing.

When the second time trial printing is in a state desired by a user, inthe same manner as described above, the recording paper 100 is set tothe paper feed portion 19 again and the repeat printing is executed, sothat images based on the setting of second time print conditions areable to be arranged and printed on a blank space.

In this way, the image to be printed by performing trial printing onceis set to be only one and repeat printing is performed with use of ablank space of the recording paper on which the trial printing isperformed, thus wasteful printing is able to be suppressed to minimum.Moreover, the print image in trial printing is also able to be used, andwhen the trial printing is performed only once, the same result as thatof normal repeat printing is able to be obtained so as to realize theresource saving.

The trial printing is also performed at third time and thereafterfurther repeatedly, and the same processing is performed. This enablesthe user to perform confirmation by the trial printing until the user isfully satisfied with the finished state. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagramsfor explaining a state when trial printing is performed three times inthe repeat printing mode. As shown in FIG. 3A, the user is not satisfiedeven with the trial printing twice, and when third time trial printingis further executed with a setting (setting C) under different printconditions, three print images 101 to 103 of the trial printing arearranged in line. Note that, even at the third time and thereafter, theprint images by the trial printing are not necessarily adjacent to eachother, and at least, a next trial printing image is printed so as not tooverlap the print images of previous trial printing.

For example, when the user is satisfied with the print image 103 ofthird time trial printing, the user sets the recording paper 100 againto the paper feed portion 19 to execute the repeat printing. FIG. 3Bshows a finished state of the repeat printing. At this time, for theprint images 101 and 102 of the trial printing in the first time and thesecond time which are not used in the repeat printing, indications areadded for showing that those are not employed as the images for therepeat printing.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, “x” marks are added on the trial printimages 101 and 102 in the first time and the second time so as toclearly indicate that those are the images for which repeat printing isnot performed. The indication showing that one is not employed forrepeat printing is not limited to the “x” marks as described above, andmay be set as appropriate by means of marking diagonal lines and thelike. This enables the user to distinguish the trial print images thatare not employed, and even in a case of using the recording paper 100 ina manner of cutting out and dividing in terms of an image, preventunnecessary print images and necessary print images from being mixed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example in which a set directionof the recording paper is displayed in second time trial printing andthereafter. As described above, in the embodiment according to thepresent invention, in the repeat printing mode, it is possible toexecute a plurality of times of trial printing with use of one sheet ofthe recording paper. At the time, a set direction of the recording paper100 with respect to the paper feed portion 19 is able to be clearlyindicated on the recording paper 100 in the second time trial printingand thereafter.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when first time trial printing isexecuted, trial printing is performed for a document image in thesetting A, as well as indications 104 for showing a set direction infeeding paper again are printed on the recording paper 100. In thisexample, triangular marks are printed on an upper part of the recordingpaper 100 as the indications 104 for showing the set direction to makeit clear that a feed direction next time is an upper direction. Theindications 104 are not limited to the triangular marks, and may be setas appropriate by using arrows and the like. Moreover, a location ofindication is also not limited to the upper part of the recording paper100, and is preferably set on edge portions of the recording paper 100so as not to disturb the image printing, at least.

In this manner, the indications 104 as described above are performed onthe recording paper 100 in performing trial printing so that even in thecase where the recording paper 100 is fed again to perform the trialprinting again, or the repeat printing is performed, the user is able todiscriminate the feed direction of the recording paper 100 easily andperform the printing without an error or waste.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining processing in which a pastsetting in trial printing is used. At the time of executing the trialprinting in the repeat printing mode as described above, when trialprinting is performed on the same recording paper 100 more than once,not only print conditions of the most recent trial printing but alsoprint conditions of the trial printing executed in the past may be usedto execute the repeat printing.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when trial printing is executed threetimes with settings A to C of the print conditions, print images 101 to103 of the trial printing under the three print conditions are printedon the recording paper 100. Here, when the user wishes to perform repeatprinting with use of the print conditions of the second time trialprinting, instead of those of the final trial printing, the second trialprinting is selected with a predetermined operation so that repeatprinting is able to be executed under print conditions thereof (settingB).

FIG. 5B shows a finished state of repeat printing at this time. In thiscase, the print conditions used in the repeat printing are the printconditions in the second time trial printing (setting B), and therefore,for the print images 101 and 103 of the first time trial printing(setting A) and the third time trial printing (setting C), “x” marks areprinted showing that those are the images for which repeat printing isnot performed. Thereby the user is able to easily recognize that repeatprinting is performed with use of the print conditions of the secondtime trial printing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for repeatprinting in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. Inperforming repeat printing in the image forming apparatus, first,reading of a document image, setting to a repeat printing mode, andsetting of print conditions are performed (step S1). The printconditions include size of recording paper, conditions such as contrastor tone of the print image, conditions of enlargement or reduction, andthe like. In a case of using default print conditions, setting of printconditions may be omitted. Additionally, reading of a document image isable to be performed by using the image reading portion 15 or by meansof input processing from an external device.

Then, trial printing is executed by a predetermined operation by a user(step S2). Thereby image data is printed on a part of recording paperwith trial printing. The user judges a printing result of the trialprinting (step S3), and when judged as OK, the recording paper is setagain to the paper feed portion (step S4). At this time, when there isan indication printed for showing a set direction of feeding paper, therecording paper is able to be set in accordance with the direction.

Then, the image forming apparatus feeds the recording paper again inaccordance with the predetermined operation of the user (step S5), setsa layout in which a plurality of identical images are arranged on ablank space excluding the print image printed with the trial printing(step S6), and executes repeat printing in accordance with the layout(step S7).

On the other hand, when the user judges that the result of the trialprinting is NG at step S3, the setting of the print conditions ischanged in accordance with the user operation. At this time, positionconditions on recording paper on which next trial printing is performedare also changed (step S8). Then, the user sets the recording paper onwhich the trial printing is performed again to the paper feed portion(step S9). The image forming apparatus feeds the recording paper againin accordance with a predetermined operation by the user (step S10), andexecutes trial printing again (step S2). The trial printing is allowedto be executed repeatedly until the user is satisfied therewith. Here,in accordance with the size of the recording paper, the layout of thetrial printing and the like, an upper limit of the number of times ofperforming trial printing may be determined.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a displayportion/operating portion of the image forming apparatus according tothe present invention. Description will be given here with reference toalso the configuration of FIG. 1. The image forming apparatus asdescribed above indicates various information as well as includes thedisplay portion/operating portion 17 which receives operation input by auser. In this example, the display portion/operating portion 17 iscomposed of an operation panel 200 including a touch panel 201, anumeric keypad input portion 202, a start key 203 and a color settingkey 204. The touch panel 201 in which a message or keys are displayed ona liquid crystal screen thereof enables a user to perform operationinput for different parts by directly touching a key, etc.

Here, in the touch panel 201, a repeat printing key 201 a for performingrepeat printing is set. The user is able to switch the image formingapparatus into the repeat printing mode by pressing the repeat printingkey 201 a. Then, a document which is desired to be printed with repeatprinting is placed on a document platen of the image forming apparatusand the start key 203 is pressed, whereby reading of the document imageby the image reading portion 15 is started. Alternatively, after havingswitched into the repeat printing mode, image data for the repeatprinting may be read out from an external device or an operation may beperformed for reading out image data from an internal memory in whichimage data input from the external device is temporarily stored.

When the image data of the document is read by pressing the start key203 in FIG. 7, a layout screen 210 as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed inthe touch panel 201. The layout processing portion 14 of the imageforming apparatus determines a layout of repeat printing based on imagedata of a document image and size of recording paper selected as printconditions, and prepares a layout screen 210 by the processing of theimage changing portion 13 so as to be displayed on the operation panel200. In this example, a layout 211 is set so that 22 copies of thedocument images are repeatedly arranged and printed on the recordingpaper.

Further, on the layout screen 210, a paper change key 212, anenlargement/reduction key 213, a trial printing key 214, a coloradjustment key 215 are displayed. The paper change key 212 is a key forperforming setting change of recording paper and which enables a user tochange the size of the recording paper by pressing the paper change key212. When the size of the recording paper is changed, the layout ischanged by the layout processing portion 14 corresponding to therecording paper and a layout 211 after changing is prepared in the imagechanging portion 13 to be displayed on the touch panel 201.

Furthermore, operation of the enlargement/reduction key 213 enablesenlargement or reduction of a document image. Even in a case whereenlargement/reduction of a document image is performed, the layout ischanged as necessary.

A trial printing key 214 is operated when a user wants to check afinished state using the trial printing in performing repeat printing bymeans of the layout 211. The trial printing is set by pressing the trialprinting key 214, and the trial printing is executed according to theset layout 211 by pressing the start key 203.

When the trial printing is executed, the user checks a finished statethereof and, when the finished state is satisfiable inputs a necessarynumber of images (copies) with use of the numeric keypad input portion202 and presses the start key 203. At this time, the recording paper onwhich the trial printing is performed is set in the paper feed portion19 again by the time the start key 203 is pressed. Thereby repeatprinting is executed, and at this time, the number of images to beprinted by the repeat printing is the number which is set by the numerickeypad input portion 202. That is, in accordance with the set layout211, an image is printed by means of repeat printing in sequence from aposition of an image of the first copy and the printing is executed tothe image of the set number. When printing of a set scheduled quantityof printing is finished, the recording paper is discharged.

At this time, means for detecting an indication showing a direction atan edge portion of the recording paper (for example, triangular marksshown in FIG. 4) may be provided to check whether or not the recordingpaper is the one on which the trial printing is performed at the time ofexecuting repeat printing. When the recording paper is confirmed to bethe one on which the trial printing is performed, a predetermined numberof copies of an image by repeat printing are printed on a remaininglayout position excluding the trial printing image based on the numberof times of the trial printing stored in the layout processing portion14 and position information of an image for which trial printing isperformed. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent an errorin a setting direction of the recording paper in feeding the paperagain. Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus 1, a position of theimage for which the trial printing is performed is stored, and thusthere is no need to detect a blank space.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imageforming apparatus having a repeat printing function for forming imagesby arranging a plurality of image data to be printed on one sheet ofrecording paper, in which at a stage of printing only one image on onesheet of recording paper, a user checks a finished state thereof, and ascheduled quantity of repeat printing is performed so that recordingpaper, a toner and the like for performing printing is saved, thusenabling realization of the resource saving.

1. An image forming apparatus having an image forming portion whichforms an image of image data on recording paper and a paper feed portionwhich feeds the recording paper to the image forming portion, comprisinga repeat printing function which forms images by repeatedly arrangingimage data on one sheet of recording paper, and a trial printingfunction which, when forming a plurality of images for one of imagedata, forms only one image for the image data first, and subsequently,forms an image again in response to input of an image formationinstruction, wherein the image forming portion enables execution of thetrial printing function in a mode of executing the repeat printingfunction, and in forming an image by the trial printing function, formsonly one image on a part of recording paper for image data to be printedby means of repeat printing, and in response to input of an instructionto execute printing by the repeat printing function, feeds the recordingpaper on which an image is formed by the trial printing function againby the paper feed portion and forms a scheduled quantity of images bythe repeat printing function in a blank space on the fed recordingpaper.
 2. The image forming apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein theimage forming portion enables repetitive execution of forming an imagemore than once by the trial printing function, and when forming an imageby the trial printing function, forms a next image by the trial printingfunction at a position of a blank on the recording paper excluding aposition of an image formed by the trial printing function in the past.3. The image forming apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the imageforming portion forms the scheduled quantity of images by the repeatprinting function at a position of a blank on the recording paperexcluding a position of an image formed by the trial printing function,when forming a scheduled quantity of images by the repeat printingfunction after forming an image is repeated more than once by the trialprinting function.
 4. The image forming apparatus as defined in claim 2,wherein the image forming portion attaches, to the image excluding theimage of conditions used for forming images by the repeat printingfunction among the plurality of images formed by the trial printingfunction, an indication for clearly showing that the image is not usedfor the repeat printing, when forming a scheduled quantity of images bythe repeat printing function after forming an image is repeated morethan once by the trial printing function.
 5. The image forming apparatusas defined in claim 2, wherein the image forming portion stores printconditions of the plurality of images formed by the trial printingfunction performed more than once, allows an user to select an image tobe used in forming an image by the repeat printing function among theplurality of images, and forms a scheduled quantity of images by therepeat printing function with use of the print conditions correspondingto the selected image.
 6. The image forming apparatus as defined in anyone of claims 1 to 5, wherein the image forming portion attaches, to apredetermined position of the recording paper, an indication showing asetting direction of the recording paper to the paper feed portionagain, when forming an image by the trial printing function.